MY ACCOUNT OF THE HAJJ: THE PILGRIMAGE OF A WHITE ANGLO-SAXON AUSTRALIAN TO MECCA AND MEDINA

Rare are works that combine personal revelations with explanations of Islam in a manner to which Westerners can easily relate. The beauty of Nicholas’ Account of the Hajj (italicise) is that an Australian farm boy with an education imbued in Christian principles, and a lifetime of exposure to religions and cultures in the Arab world and South and South-East Asia, can relate to and convey in a straightforward manner Islamic beliefs and practices that many may consider foreign. Nicholas has done a great service to those interested in religions and spirituality in his descriptions of the rites of the Hajj and explanations of their origins and meaning. As a diary, the work animates the daily life of the pilgrim in an engaging style reminiscent of writings from an earlier period of exploration. Nick expresses a personal revelation, ‘the Hajj inspires a deep sense of serenity, humility and affinity with the Almighty’. The Hajj is both a voyage to Mecca as well as a recommitment to a lifelong spiritual journey. He writes, ‘If my Account of the Hajj can contribute to inter-cultural and religious understanding, I am happy to have shared it with others’.